increasing distance with sidearm

i throw predominantly sidearm or overhead for driving. my problem is i seemed to have "capped out" on my distance (which isnt very far, i am a girl... so i dont expect 350-400 ft, but right now i get about 150?)

i have switched over most of my drivers to 150's... which did make a good improvement.. but now no matter what disc i throw, or what technique i use, they all go about the same distance.

best example of this is my ch 150 teebird (which i love, can get a great straight flight out of) and my 150 rpro boss. now, by the specs, i should be able to drive the boss further, simply because it has more speed and glide... why cant i?

my technique isnt perfect by any means, but i do have a reasonably good wrist flick, hip snap and follow thru.

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Hi,
I have noticed that light weight discs are not the best ones in sidearm throws. When you get better and get more power to your drives they tend to turn over easily. My sidearm got better when I switched to Discraft Surge 171g disc. The other thing is to pay attention to your technique, Make sure that you lead with your elbow. I have noticed also that the more power I try to put on my sidearm the worse the disc will fly. The idea is that the wrist is fater than the leading arm. What I mean is that if your pull generates more power than the flick then the throw is not going to fly very far or accurately. Keep it relaxed and concentrate on the snap. I apologize my English, I am not a native speaker but I hope you get something out of this.

well, there is definitely a perfect balance between strength and weight... i have thrown heavier discs with no success, thats why i went to the lighter ones... :(

i did have a "little" improvement today when someone helped me with my form, but it was on one of my last throws of the day, so we'll see if it has long term effects. i would estimate it was 15-20ft further than usual...

The RPro Boss doesn't have much glide if you don't throw it fast. It is meant for very long throws and takes speed to develop lift. It is a fast disc, which basically means it will go upwind well. Until you develop a quicker and more powerful whip, the Boss may only be useful for you upwind, or thrown anhyzer. I don't mean to say the Boss is not a good sidearm disc. It is, but it is meant for more power.

Things for you to work on to develop velocity:

1. A strong finger grip against the wall of the rim with your finger pads. Usually this is the index and middle finger pads. This can be done several ways and there are sites with pictures to help you here. The important thing is to use the pads directly into the wall and not the side of the fingers.

2. Use as quick of a whipping action as you can. Keep your arm loose for as long as you can.

3. The whipping action should cause the weight of the disc to pivot around where you are gripping, and rip itself from your grip. This is substantially aided by your wrist motion. When your wrist stops, the disc rips out. A really quick wrist motion to a steely stop will produce the best results. This must be in concert with a good strong grip.

4. Power comes from your shoulder turn, but the main acceleration, power transfer, and resultant velocity come from the whip which is your arm, wrist, disc pivot and grip.

5. Until you develop an efficient whip, there is no point to developing more power. It will just make you sore and tired. Any loss of quickness in the whip or slip in the grip will fail to transfer power into acceleration and escape velocity.

6. You don't have to pull through your whip with your shoulder at maximum speed, but you do need to pull with maximum power as the disc is being ejected. This should cause you to take a pivot step to follow through just like a properly thrown backhand.

7. A loose bent elbow is easier to produce a whip with than a non bent tight elbow. However, just like pitching, there are different styles that work for different people. The rubber arm technique is most efficient, least tiring, and least physical.

For me, having a strong solid grip is probably the most important key to long distance sidearm drives, with a quick snap release right behind. Loose bent leading elbow is the correct form, while adding a clean and smooth X-step will get you even further. I find throwing anhyzer shots go further, I even put slight anhyzer angle releases on Bosses and Destroyers to hold a straight fast line or flip over a Surge and have it come back.

Keep playing, I have noticed that as the years go by, (it's like my 6 year now) my distance increases each year...I don't do much else to strengthen my arm (although I also play baseball every summer) but still i am pretty lazy when it comes to excersize outside of the sports I play...I just play and the mechanics keep getting better...so my advise is to just keep at it, it may take a while but the distance will come

yeah i pretty much agree with everyone is saying. i do considerate it relative to throwing a baseball, but not completely since you are throwing a disc. good snap, tight grip, and pay attention on how your holding the disc as in how much angle you are turning it when you throw are important to me.